Upheaval

Why is it spelled with an 'a' before the 'l'?

It’s been a bit of an upheaval over the last few weeks.

1. We got our first paying customer.

Delivering the service to the customer was a crazy learning curve for us. But this experience has changed my mind about leveraging a service based model for early revenue generation, while we continue to build the product.

The need to offer a service to a single customer was too distracting for us. This is perhaps because we don’t have separate teams for R&D and services, perhaps because focusing on providing services doesn’t really tie into the big vision of building the world’s most efficient data storage hardware.

2. We hosted quite a lot of visitors.

Jacki, a biologist from Berkeley, flew down to spend a week with us in our lab. We learnt a lot from her about systematic approaches to doing science, what it takes to scale a proof of concept to a product. I hope to continue working with her moving ahead.

We collaborated with the School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (CCEB) of Nanyang Technology University (NTU), Singapore as a part of their Innovation Ecosystem Program, to offer university students an exposure to startups in domains that are closely related to their field of study. They were super eager to learn about what we do, and how they can potentially initiate an R&D collaboration with us through some of their professors.

Image Description: Somehow we have Dr. Jacki, the NTU students and our team all in one frame

We have had quite a few scientists, engineers, ex-founders, operators (yes, I have now actually started using this term because it’s the shortest word for folks working on anything non-tech in the startup world xD) drop by, and I have enjoyed picking their brains on some of the challenges we have run into.

3. The Real Upheaval

Our -80 freezer had to be replaced (which has caused us a decent bit of delay on the wet lab front), and given that it doesn’t fit in the lift had to be hauled up the stairs. We are super convinced that when we build an office building of our own, we will create enough physical infrastructure for heavy equipment to be moved around.

Scientific endeavour is also built on the shoulders of a lot of these people who we don’t give enough credit to. It’s perhaps easier (and more privileged) to be a scientist than someone who has to lift lab equipment.

Shout out to Franci from our team for coordinating the effort, it’s not the easiest thing to manage.

4. Events
   a. I spoke at St. Joseph’s University in Bangalore on a panel at the Smart Chem 2026 conference. I shared what we are building at BioCompute and how folks from a bio/chem background can shape this industry. I then hung around with one of the attendees and chatted about how we can build a community bio lab in the city. Thanks, Praapti, for making this happen!
   
   b. We were shortlisted for Phase 2 of the Bharat Innovates Challenge being organized by the Ministry of Education India; I presented our work to a panel of academics and industry veterans at IIT Bombay on 22nd Jan.

   

   I also leveraged that opportunity to meet and chat with the iGEM team at IITB. It’s fascinating to see how they decide on their projects, plan experiments and execute them. I am all the more convinced that we need an iGEM equivalent in India.

   
   c. I was at the Sustainability Showcase event hosted by Biocon (one of the largest pharma companies in India) in collaboration with the Sustainability Mafia (the largest community of climate founders in India). I had an opportunity to chat about what we are building at BioCompute and discuss how Biocon can leverage sustainable data storage using DNA.

   

   Presenting at Biocon

5. Some Team Stuff
   I realized that I haven’t introduced our most recent team members (who are not so recent anymore) to you on Substack. Here they are:
   
   i) Franci
   At BioCompute, Franci has been involved in wet lab experiments, automating repetitive manual processes in the lab, and streamlining our supply chain. I am constantly awed by her ability to learn new skills and implement feedback at an unimaginable pace.

   

   Franci in action

   She holds an MSc in Human Genetics from the Central University of Punjab, and has previously studied gut microbes in Drosophila melanogaster (fancy word for fruit flies), worked on identifying the genetic basis of Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome at the Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology and conducted bioinformatic analysis of the shared genetic and epigenetic signatures in PCOS and Breast Cancer in specific north Indian populations. Outside work, Franci enjoys powerlifting and creating different forms of art.

   
   b) Pooja
   At BioCompute, Pooja has been working extensively on lab experiments to encode data in DNA and sequence it. She has an impeccable sense of observation, which is evident in the feedback she gives folks on the team (including me).

   

   Pooja in action

   She holds a B.Tech in Biotechnology from PES University, and has previously worked on the regulation of transcription in the process of photosynthesis in cyanobacterial species at the University of Hyderabad, and studied the virulence of three different mutants of the bacterium Salmonella Typhimurium in in vitro and in vivo contexts at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). Outside work, Pooja enjoys reading, covering songs on her uke, graphite sketching and vibing to R&B music.
   

   We did a little Secret Santa in office this year (I have been told much to my chagrin that this is a very corporate practice), followed by a round of UNO and it was fun. It was a time to reflect on the culture we have built in the company so far, how much everyone values it (all the gifts were so thoughtful), and how we keep scaling this culture as we grow.

   
   We are hiring a Lead Bioengineer and talking to a bunch of interesting folks for the role, if you/someone you know would like to be part of a fun team working on audacious goals, do reach out to me for a chat.

   

   Image Description: The Secret Santa Gifts
   
   *******
   I spent the last three weeks wondering what I should be writing in the context of a new year (in terms of reflections and the likes) and couldn’t come up with anything but the generic stuff. So I have decided to skip that for now and laser-focus on scaling up our data storage.

   
   Exciting updates soon!